First day of Carnevale in Rome

Flight of the Churches, Brigid Marlin

Carnevale kicks off today, and in honor of that colorful, vivacious, and heady festival, I couldn't help but share with you this gorgeous work of art. Carnevale will be forever linked with Venice (even though it did not originate there) and this fantastical image of Byzantine balloon-churches taking off from Piazza San Marco somehow reminds me of the unforgettable Carnevale I spent in that amazing city in 2005. The painting is the work of Brigid Marlin, an American artist born in 1936 who has been described as the first in a new generation of surrealist artists.   

But this is The Pines of Rome, not The Pines of Venice, and it's been many years since I have visited La Serenissima. Instead, I am going to extol the virtues of Roman Carnevale. It's pretty fantastic, if I do say so myself.

I plan to post a few times over the next ten days of the "holiday", about the traditions, the events and, perhaps best of all, the sweets that make Carnevale Romano just about the most wonderful time of the year. But until then, I leave you with this little taste that I encountered, almost by chance, on my afternoon walk today.

For a bit of background on Roman Carnevale, check out last year's post: Eat, drink, and be merry! Carnival in Rome.

Image sources: 1; 2 and 3, by author

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Metaphysics at La Brèche

Passeggiata, Francesco Ferlisi

Just a quick post tonight, before I promise to start posting regularly again. Got to start those New Year's resolutions sometime!

Just wanted to let you all know that selected works of my favorite Rome-based contemporary artist, Francesco Ferlisi, will be on exhibit from tomorrow, 12 January, until the 18th at La Brèche Association with the theme of metaphysics. The opening takes place tomorrow at 6pm, and I highly recommend stopping by if you enjoy exploring the work of local artists. Ferlisi's work is dramatic, colorful, often ironic, and rich with hidden meaning. You can see a few other examples of his work here. Perhaps I'll see you there!

La Brèche Association. Via Virginia, 22 (Metro Furio Camillo). www.labreche.it

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The Academy of Beautiful: Colors of Summer

Now, dear bloglings, before you assume I am posting about some kind of advanced esthetician training program or recommending summer nail polish shades, let me explain. 

The Accademia del Bello is a brand-new cultural center that seeks to recapture aesthetics, beauty and harmony in art. These days, beauty in art has become superfluous: much more important for works of art to express ideas, to communicate, and oftentimes to shock. An enthusiastic exhibit-goer is more likely to leave a gallery disconcerted, disoriented or even depressed than moved and uplifted. While there can be no doubt that without communication, any work of art would fall flat, that doesn't seem like an adequate reason to neglect the aesthetic aspects of art entirely.

Artist Emanuela Tamburini has for this reason created the Accademia del Bello, to remind the art-loving community of the importance of the aesthetic value of art. The Academy is a meeting place for artists as well as all art lovers, hosting themed exhibits and events, as well as offering painting and drawing courses.

I find this initiative refreshing. During my years at New England Conservatory of Music, I remember searching the listening library high and low for the most beautiful music possible. And I often felt that I had to apologize for it. "I have a preference for beautiful music," I used to say, as if I were artistically inferior to my classmates who preferred Hindemith or Berg to my beloved Debussy and Respighi. How lovely to find I'm not the only one!

The Academy's first major exhibit opens tonight with works by Rina Aloe, Wanda Bettozzi, Mario D’Imperio, Francesco Ferlisi, Donato Maiorella and Emanuela Tamburini. The Colors of Summer seeks to celebrate the beginning of the brightest and warmest season of the year with visions of forms and colors in harmony with one another. Yet each work is vastly different from the next, with a wide array of techniques, textures and colors, representing the culmination of a lifetime of experience for each of the six artists.

The exhibit opens tonight, 20 June, at 6pm and runs until 27 June, at the Accademia del Bello, on Via Gaetano Mario Columba, 23 near Via Appia Nuova (Metro Colli Albani). Open everyday from 11am to 1pm and 4pm to 7pm. Drop by tonight to see these paintings, meet the artists, and learn about the specific techniques they employ to create their work.

All images proved courtesy of the Accademia del Bello

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The many hats of Francesco Ferlisi

Hello bloglings! How I’ve missed you! I can only blame my absence on a typically chaotic Easter week and particularly debilitating allergies. I’m thinking of investing in the Kleenex company.

Nefertiti Style, Francesco Ferlisi

But I had to write today about the marvelous art opening I attended over the weekend on Via Margutta. It’s been a while since I wrote one of my street posts (if you are new to this blog, I am obsessed with discovering the meaning behind the names of Rome’s streets), and I’m thinking that Via Margutta might just be the next street I write about. It is enchanting, tucked between Via del Babuino and the Pincian Hill with a canopy of vines. But that post is for another day.

Today I am itching to write about the exhibit of paintings by Francesco Ferlisi at the private gallery Il Mondo dell’Arte on historic Via Margutta, street of artists. Ferlisi, a Sicilian-born painter active in Rome for a number of years, has been critically acclaimed across Europe and North America. His style has been described as "ironically surrealistic" and each work is deeply symbolic.

The title of this new exhibit is CopriCapi celebri. Copricapo is another word for hat in Italian (in addition to the literal cappello), from the words coprire (to cover) and capo (head). But the hats in his paintings are more than just “head-covers,” they are integral parts of the look and personality of the individual who wears them.

Capo can also mean boss, or even head of state, and the double meaning of the title refers to the fact that most of the hats depicted belong to political leaders or major players in the entertainment world. Ferlisi’s inspiration for the exhibit was not the celebrities but the hats themselves, and it is clear that the person wearing it comes second. The facial features of the wearer are often omitted, highlighting the hat, which is the real subject of each work.

God save the Queen, Francesco Ferlisi, 2011

The best part about this exhibit is that as you view the works, you will recognize the subject by their hats, not their features. Whether representing Queen Elizabeth II, Audrey Hepburn, Pope John Paul II, Marlene Dietrich or Camilla Parker Bowles, this innovative twist on portrait painting proves that what covers the head is often more recognizable than the head itself.

Audrey the Star, Francesco Ferlisi, 2011

A second section of the exhibit includes portraits of hats standing alone, that is, without a celebrity wearing them. Some are nevertheless instantly recognizable, such as the headdress of Nefertiti or the top hat of Winston Churchill, accompanied of course by his ubiquitous cigar.

You can view these fantastic and thought-provoking works (and meet the artist) at Il Monde dell'Arte gallery at Via Margutta 55, every day from 10am to 1pm and from 4pm to 7:30pm until the 22nd of April. (Closed Monday morning. Free entry.)

All images are provided courtesy of the artist and may not be reproduced. 

Via Margutta Photo source

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Photographs by Andrea Pacanowski: you won't believe your eyes

Hello my sweet bloglings, have I got a treat for you today! A brand new exhibit opened this past Friday at the Museum of Rome in Trastevere. On display are 40 works by Roman contemporary photographer Andrea Pacanowski. One look at these images will send your mind swirling in a kaleidoscope of colors, but there's something else, something you won't believe.

The title of the exhibit is: Before me: the crowd and the religious experience. I agree with you, that doesn't translate very well. All'infuori di me (meaning literally 'besides me' or 'except for me') is a quote from the first commandment: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me". Folla does mean crowd, but it is a strong word, could even be translated as mob in certain cases.

The photos were captured the holiest cities of the world's major monotheistic religions, mostly Jerusalem, Fez and Rome. The subject of every work is a religious mass, a large group of people coming together for prayer, worship or ritual. But what sets Pacanowski's photos apart is not their subject matter or their composition, or the glorious colors he captures. It is the almost unbelievable fact that he uses no post-production techniques of any kind. Let me say that again:

He uses no post-production techniques of any kind. Not only that, each of the images is captured with old fashioned film. Absolutely nothing digital about these photographs.

I'm guessing your reaction is like mine when I saw these photos for the first time: disbelief. But it's true. Then how? How did he do it? Well I was tempted to ask him just that when I saw him at the inauguration, but I was overcome by a rare bout of shyness, and a worry that I hadn't read the press release thoroughly, so not wanting to embarrass myself, I kept my mouth shut.

After a bit of post-exhibit studying, I found out his secret. (Spoiler alert, if you'd prefer to visit the exhibit without knowing, stop reading now!)

Each photograph is merely a reflection of an image. None of the subjects were shot directly. Some kind surface, such as canvas, wood or glass, was applied with either chalk, paint, silicone or some other substance, and then scratched or in other ways manipulated. Then the prepared surface was set up in such a way that it caught the reflection of the subject and voilà.

These mesmerizing photos look at once like watercolors, complete abstract art and impressionist paintings. Like impressionist art, many of them have to be looked at from several steps back to be able to recognize the subject. But by studying them close up, you are able to guess at some of the particulars of the preparatory technique, which is every bit as fascinating.

A tiny computer screen will never do justice to these amazing photos, so do yourself a favor and go see this astounding exhibit in person. See my Exhibits on Now page for visiting information.

I will leave you with the capolavoro of the exhibition. At first you may simply see a Catholic procession and nothing else. But look a little closer, or, on second thought, look a little further away. Once you see it you won't be able to imagine how you missed it before.

All images copyright Andrea Pacanowski and provided courtesy of Zètema Press Office.

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